Monday, March 22, 2010

With arugula going to seed

I'm very happy to let a few of my plants go to seed. Arugula, in particular, is an easy plant from which to harvest seeds for future salads. Here's a clump of arugula blooming. I hope to gather some seeds in a few weeks. If I can remember, I try to throw out a few patches of arugula seeds every few weeks to keep arugula growing in my garden.Family: Brassicaceae, Eruca sativa

Welcome!

I'm happy to garden a plot in a southern California community garden, Sunset zone 24, USDA zone 10b. *Update: Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a horrible drought, and with that comes a huge reduction in the slug and snail population. * The comments below about the slugs and snails no longer apply but I am keeping the comments for historical reasons.

***Unfortunately, since it comes with a couple zillion slugs, I am quite frankly on the warpath every day. We, the several zillion slugs and I, are about a block from the beach so our summers are quite cool and foggy while our winters are a bit milder than inland southern California. We garden year round though tomatoes are a bit challenged unless they are either cold-tolerant or come equipped with outdoor heaters.***